A Winters Love
by TakabayashiAnsatsubu
Summary: The story of the relationship between Mikado and Aoba that began with a confession on top of a hill on a cold winters evening. Mikado x Aoba. This takes place in an alternate universe where Aoba doesn't know Mikado is the leader of the Dollars and therefore is not trying to manipulate him, just FYI.
1. A Winters Love

**A Winters Love**

It was the end of the school day, Ryuugamine Mikado had been in the classroom cleaning up, as was his job of being the class representative. Sonohara Anri, the other class rep was ill that day so Mikado was alone in the classroom. Being winter, it was cold in the empty classrooms, Mikado even had to put his thick coat on over his uniform as he was finishing up.

"I hope it gets warmer soon, I hate winter" Mikado said to himself as he grabbed his bag from his desk and began to leave the classroom. He was expecting a pretty bland walk back to his apartment which wasn't too far from Raira Academy, but long enough when it was this cold out, this idea was shattered, however, by the appearance of a young, blue haired underclassman.

"Hey, Mikado-Senpai! Good work!" The dark blue haired boy exclaimed.

Mikado was taken aback at first, the surprise of seeing this underclassman washed over him and left him speechless for a minute.

"Mikado-Senpai? Are you feeling alright? You haven't caught a cold have you?" The blue haired boy questioned, with genuine worry in his voice. Aoba put his hand on Mikado's forehead to check his temperature. The black haired boy noticed his heart rate increase slightly.

"Ah, sorry, I'm fine Aoba-kun" Mikado blushed and smiled awkwardly as he often did in many social situations. He was always a shy boy, most likely due to his sheltered childhood in the country. However, he had been in Ikebukuro for over a year now, and had changed drastically from when he first arrived. Mikado believed he had grown a lot, and had improved when it came to talking to others, but he was still caught off guard every now and then, like this moment for example. Although he knew Aoba, so he wasn't sure why he got nervous, he always did in Aoba's presence. He wasn't able to stop and think about the reason before Aoba had another outburst.

"Let's walk home together Senpai!" Aoba said this more as a command than a question, but Mikado didn't mind, he was going to be a bit lonely walking home without Sonohara-San, and so he welcomed the company.

"That's fine by me, Aoba-kun" Mikado replied as they began to walk out of the building. The whole school was empty besides the two of them. Realising this brought on a feeling of awkwardness and nervousness. Again with this nervousness, what was it about being with Aoba that made him feel like this? Aoba didn't have a threatening aura about him, if anything it was quite the opposite.

"Senpai…?" Aoba asked noticing the extended silence between the two boys as they walked out of school.

"Are you sure that you're feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Mikado was just distracted by his own thoughts. This was going to annoy him, he could tell. Due to this, he had completely overlooked the fact that the two of them had never walked home together before. He didn't even know where Aoba lived.

"Say, do you live near me?" Mikado asked, assuming he must if they're walking home together.

"Hmmm… Sure!" Aoba's response was unclear, his upbeat tone made it so that Mikado couldn't tell if he was being serious or not, but he wasn't going to push it any further.

The two were now walking through the backstreets of town on their way home, this isn't the way that Mikado would usually go home, in fact, this route was actually longer, but Aoba had sort of led the way and Mikado just went along with it. By now they had begun to walk through the underpass. This place brought back memories for Mikado as this was the place where he first talked to Celty-san, the Headless Rider. A chill swept through the tunnel and hit the two boys, the sharpness of the cold even reached Mikado's hands that were inside his coat pockets.

Somehow Aoba had managed to notice this, something that bewildered Mikado, how could someone notice that? People had told him he was easy to read, but that was ridiculous… The thought of Aoba paying that much attention to him made his heart beat faster. Badump.

"Are you cold, Senpai?"

Badump.

"A little, yeah."

"Then…" Aoba's voice drifted off as the boy veered towards Mikado.

His heart rate shot up at this point.

"W-what are you..." Mikado stammered as Aoba took his hand out of his own pocket and put it in his.

Aoba wrapped his hand around Mikado's and intertwined their fingers.

Mikado's heart felt like it was going to burst at this point. "Why…? Why is my heart doing this…?" Mikado thought to himself as other thoughts began rushing in, anything to take away the realisation that he was holding hands with another guy.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Mikado exclaimed in a panicked voice.

"Keeping Mikado-Senpai warm!"

That line that Aoba came out with caused Mikado's cheeks to flare up even more than the cold had already caused them to.

"What if somebody saw us?" This should have been the last of his worries, he should have been more concerned over why he wasn't trying to get his hand back from Aoba. All of these feelings and emotions that were rushing over Mikado were confusing him even more.

Why was he ok with this? Why hasn't he felt like this with Kida-kun or Sonohara-san…? He wasn't able to work it out before Aoba replied;

"I wouldn't care, it's Mikado-Senpai after all!" This put Mikado into a stunned silence.

Aoba turned to look at his upperclassman and saw an almost distressed look on his face.

"We're taking a detour here" Aoba said in a flat tone, not his usual upbeat voice that Mikado was so used to hearing around Aoba.

Mikado simply followed sheepishly as they began to climb a huge flight of stairs up a hill. The whole time Aoba didn't let go of his senpai's hand, in fact he actually tightened his grip, making sure that their hands couldn't be separated.

By time they'd reached the top of this hill the sun was beginning to set, causing burnt orange rays of light to be shine between the buildings of Ikebukuro.

A silence had fallen over the two the whole time they had been climbing the stairs. Mikado felt guilty, he knew that he had pulled a strange face at the kindness that Aoba had shown him and this was mainly due to the swirl of emotions inside him that he still didn't understand.

The two walked a little bit further until they reached the highest point of the hill, from here you could see Raira Academy as well as a large part of main Ikebukuro. Aoba stopped walking and let go of Mikado's hand. He turned to face his Senpai and took a deep breath. Mikado was expecting to get yelled at for being rude and yet…

"I like you"

The words that Aoba shot out didn't sink in to Mikado until after Aoba had repeated himself.

"I like you, Mikado-Senpai"

Mikado couldn't help but blush. Was he really being confessed to by an underclassman? And not only that, a guy? He stood there in silence not knowing what to say, when he noticed his heart was pounding again. Just like it had done when Aoba took his hand.

"But you like Anri-Senpai, don't you…?" Aoba let out in a disheartened voice, he appeared to believe he had lost before he even started.

"I'm sorry for confessing to you so suddenly, but I've liked you, no, loved you, from the moment we met at the start of the year… I just couldn't hold it in any longer"

"I-" Mikado could barely speak, his heart was beating out of his chest and he was still confused by the whole situation.

"Please, just reject me and let me move on…" Aoba looked like he was about to cry after saying that.

"Are you sure it's love?" Mikado wanted to avoid hurting his friend if he could so he had to make sure.

"Of course. When I'm around you my heart starts beating like crazy and I can't stop thinking about you… I'm sorry… this isn't helping you is it…?"

"That… that's exactly how I'm feeling now" Mikado thought to himself. "I finally understand, this feeling is love isn't it?" Mikado had a sense of relief once he realised this.

"Please Senpai! Just do it! This is unbearable!" Aoba was clearly desperate for this pain to stop, and Mikado was the only one who could do anything about it.

"Aoba-kun… I can't reject you"

"Wha- why?"

"Because I like you too" Mikado gave one of his smiles which showed just how much he cared.

As soon as he had said this it began to snow. The sunset bouncing off the falling snowflakes created an extremely romantic setting for the boys' confessions.

"E-eh? Really?"

"Yeah, I just realised it… this feeling I've been having for a while now… it's love, isn't it?" Mikado was still smiling.

Aoba flashed a smile back at him as he blushed, he looked as if he was holding back tears as a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. He walked forward and took Mikado's hand again, looked straight up into his eyes and went up on tip toes to kiss Mikado on the lips.

After their first kiss, the two embraced each other in a gentle hug as snow began to build up on their coats.

"Yeah, that's love"


	2. The Day She Found Out

**The Day She Found Out**

It had been about a week since Ryuugamine Mikado and Kuronuma Aoba had confessed to each other on top of the hill overlooking Ikebukuro. Since then they had seen each other at school but hadn't done anything that you would consider lovers doing. This was mainly due to the fact that Mikado wanted to keep their relationship secret. Particularly from Sonohara-san, Mikado couldn't bear the thought of her finding out, just picturing her seeing the two of them together made him shiver.

At the end of the day Aoba waited for his new lover to finish up with any class rep work that he had, much like he did on the day that he confessed his love. Of course, there was one major difference, the presence of Sonohara Anri. This was something that Aoba detested. Although he did actually like her as a person, he saw her as a rival and a threat to his relationship. Not only this, but with her being there he wasn't free to be with Mikado in the way he wanted, but there was nothing he could do about this and he simply put up with it.

"Mikado-Senpai! Are you all done for the day?" Aoba asked with excitement as Mikado left his classroom.

"Not quite, we still have to take these books to the staff room… Would you help us?" he replied hoping Aoba would say yes so that he didn't have to carry as much.

"Sure! If it means you'll be done quicker!" Aoba grinned at Mikado which caused the black haired boy to blush. "You really are adorable" Mikado thought to himself, he may have even said it aloud if Sonohara-san wasn't in the room behind him.

Mikado turned around to face Anri who was cleaning the room. "We're heading up to staff room, we'll be back soon"

"Ah, ok, I'll be leaving a little later today, so go on ahead."

This reply caused a great deal of excitement to well up inside of both the boys. This meant they were able to be close to each other for the rest of the day. They walked out of the classroom and down the hallway to staff room which was already empty, the teachers clearly wanting to get away quickly on a Friday afternoon.

Aoba dropped the books onto the teacher's desk with a loud thud and quickly spun round to face his boyfriend. He grabbed Mikado's collar and pulled him to his own height so that he could kiss him.

"Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer" Aoba said, blushing as he pulled away from Mikado's lips.

"It's fine, I was feeling the same way" Mikado replied as he lent in to kiss Aoba on the cheek.

Both boys smiled at each other before leaving the room. As they walked back to the classroom to collect their stuff there was a slightly awkward silence between them. Mikado was certain this was due to the fact that Aoba wanted to do more than just kiss every now and then, but he wasn't sure how to approach such an embarrassing topic. He began to think about how he was going to talk to Aoba about this when-

"Hey, Senpai, can I come over tonight?" Aoba asked in a quiet voice, he too must have been embarrassed by the situation.

"Su-sure, there's not a lot of room but-"

"Really!? Yay! I'm so happy!" Aoba was elated at Mikado's response, he was grinning with joy about being able to go over to his boyfriend's house. He even began to walk faster just so that they could hurry up and leave. By the time Mikado had reached the classroom door Aoba had already been in and gotten their stuff, he simply smiled and handed Mikado his bag, to which he replied with a smile as well.

The two walked out of school as snow was beginning to fall, they took Mikado's usual route home going through the centre of Ikebukuro. As they continued to walk home Aoba tried to hold hands but Mikado refused, albeit begrudgingly, given how many people were around.

Snow was building up on the shoulders and in the hair of the two boys as they began to get close to Mikado's apartment, by the time they got back the snow had soaked through their coats all the way to their blazers.

"Wait there, I'll get some towels." Mikado told Aoba as they walked through his front door.

"Ok, I'll wait here" Aoba grinned as he said this.

As Mikado was getting a couple of towels he began to wonder what he should do, here he was in his home, alone with his boyfriend. Was Aoba expecting something to happen between them? Would he be fine with letting that happen?

Mikado had a lot of questions but he decided to ignore them and just let the evening play out and see what happened. There was no need to be nervous, though he couldn't quite get rid of the feeling.

Mikado returned to Aoba, whilst drying his own hair. Aoba was still waiting patiently at his front door, Mikado approached him with the towel and placed it over his and began to rub his hair. Once Mikado had realised how close they were to each other he blushed a little, but Aoba looked so adorable he couldn't help it. Mikado leaned down and kissed Aoba then hugged him, both still in wet clothes.

"You really are adorable, Aoba-kun"

"Hmmm? What was that?"

Aoba obviously didn't quit hear Mikado with the towel still over his head.

"Nothing" Mikado couldn't help but smile.

"Senpai, do you have a spare pair of clothes? It's uncomfortable being like this…" Aoba trailed off looking at Mikado in hope that there would be something for him to wear.

"Umm, of course I have spare clothes… I'm just not sure any will fit you" He looked Aoba up and down judging his size, and noticing that Aoba was actually fair amount smaller than himself.

"I look and see what I've got" He walked back into the room and opened up the closet and had a rummage around. "What have I got for Aoba to wear…?" he thought to himself.

He returned to Aoba holding a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Sorry, this is all I have spare at the moment, everything else needs washing"

"That's fine" Aoba smiled gratefully and Mikado and proceeded to drop his trousers and take off his blazer and shirt.

Mikado blushed at the sight and turned around to face the other way.

"Wh-what are you doing?! You should do that in the bathroom!"

Still standing in just his underwear Aoba replied:

"It's not like it matters, we're going to see each other like this"

"Turn around, Senpai" Aoba urged in a calm voice

Mikado wasn't sure what to do. Aoba made a valid point, they ARE going to see each other like that at some point. He just wasn't prepared for it to be this sudden. He slowly turned around to look at Aoba, he instantly took note of his boyfriend's body, he had a slender body with firm muscles, not an ounce of fat anywhere, nor was it overly muscly for his size. Mikado felt his heart beat rise a bit as he saw this. Mikado stopped himself from looking a little lower… that would have been moving too fast.

"See? There's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about" Aoba said with a smile on his face. He proceeded to put on the oversized shirt and shorts that Mikado had given him.

Mikado laughed at the sight, Aoba looked ridiculous wearing that, but as long as it was more comfortable than his uniform then it didn't matter. Mikado also changed but couldn't do it in front of Aoba so he went into the bathroom, completely disregarding what Aoba had said to him previously.

"Ah. I left my gym kit at school…" Mikado realised as he walked out of the bathroom.

"Sorry, that was my fault." Aoba replied apologetically after remembering that he was the one that rushed to pick up their bags.

"Don't worry, I'll just get it on Monday" Mikado smiled at Aoba to reassure him that it wasn't a big problem.

The two sat down in the main room of Mikado's home wondering what to do.

"Sorry, I don't have a TV or anything, only my computer…" Mikado felt embarrassed about his lack of facilities, but usually he wouldn't need anything more, it was only ever him that was in the room, and he was almost always online, whether it be on the Dollars site or a chatroom.

"Then we could stream some anime or a film?" Aoba left the options open for Mikado to decide upon.

"Oh~ , so you're an anime fan, huh?"

"Well… err… yeah, kinda" Aoba had an awkward smile on his face, obviously slightly embarrassed by the fact he still watched anime, almost religiously.

"Then, is there a particular series we should watch?" Mikado was intrigued by anime, his parents had never let him watch a lot of anime as a child as they didn't want him to be an Otaku…

"Hmmm, then, Mondaiji Tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu You"

Mikado searched for it online whilst being shocked that a series could have such a long name.

After the first episode had finished Aoba asked what Mikado's impression of the series was, and he was unsure, so much random stuff had occurred that it was hard to keep up, but the series seemed promis-

Aoba interrupted Mikado's train of thought by kissing him. The suddenness of the kiss shocked the black haired boy so much that when Aoba pulled away, his mouth was left agape. The blue haired boy took this opportunity to give his lover a french kiss. This shocked Mikado even more, but this feeling was quickly washed away by the sheer pleasure of the sensation of their their moist tongues intertwining with each other. Aoba began to push Mikado backward and the two fell onto the floor with a small thud. Mikado was now laying down with Aoba on top of him. The one on top didn't let off with kissing. Their tongues were constantly moving in each others mouths. Saliva was beginning to escape from the gaps between their mouths as the kiss continued. The blue haired boy even ran his tongue along the top set of Mikado's teeth in a way that he found quite sensual.

The two separated from the passionate kiss to catch their breath before going again. Both had clearly been waiting for this to happen for a while, which had caused Aoba in particular to become impatient. As Aoba went back in for the second kiss he moved one of his hands up onto Mikado's cheek as he put his tongue into his mouth. He slowly began to move that hand up into Mikado's thick black hair and caressed it. Meanwhile his other hand slowly slipped up underneath the older boy's shirt which he had just put on. Aoba felt the soft, supple skin on his fingers and began to trace the line of Mikado's body.

The once nervous Mikado was now fully immersed in the experience. Any nervousness that he would have normally felt was completely overshadowed by Aoba and his intense movements. He couldn't believe he was doing this, nor could he believe that he wasn't doing anything to stop it, but it just felt way too good.

Sonohara Anri had noticed Mikado's gym bag in the classroom as she left earlier so had decided to drop it off on her way home, it wasn't that much of a detour to get to Mikado's apartment by the station. As she climbed the steps to Mikado's door she heard people out of breath coming from inside. Before knocking on the door she looked through the window. She dropped the bag when she saw the sight inside the room. Her best friend and their underclassman doing _those_ sorts of things. Before she knew it she was running. Running as fast as she could so that she could get away from there. She didn't understand why she was running though, she couldn't feel love, so this didn't make sense. Yet Saika inside of her was going berserk, constantly repeating "Cut. Cut. Slash. Aoba. Cut. Slice. Slash. Ryuugamine. Cut." It was as if Saika was jealous of something, or someone. It took on the emotions and feelings that she herself should be feeling. This was the first time that the enchanted Katana had spoken a person's name.

There was a faint thud outside the room as if something had been dropped but the two lovers ignored it, not paying attention to anything but themselves. The next episode of the anime had started without them even noticing.

"A-Aoba-kun" Mikado finally got out, still out of breath. "I think this is as far as we should go for now…" he trailed off, worrying that he might have offended his boyfriend.

There was a slight look of disappointment in Aoba's eyes but that quickly vanished.

"Yeah, you're right. We haven't even been on a date yet."

"Then, how about we go see a film tomorrow? You can stay here overnight."

Aoba's eyes lit up. "That sounds great!"

"I only have one futon though…" Mikado sounded a little concerned, then a little boost of confidence came over him, Aoba's personality must have rubbed off on him. "But we could always share…"

Seeing his boyfriend suggest this Aoba moved over to Mikado and gave him a hug.

"That sounds great." He said in a calm tone whilst resting his head on Mikado's shoulder.

"I'll get the futon out now then we can finish this series, there's only nine more episodes I think"

Mikado had gotten the futon out and the two had climbed in together under the blanket. His eyes had gotten heavy by the end of the fourth episode and didn't even see the opening of the sixth episode. He had fallen fast asleep. He rolled over and placed his head against Aoba's chest. Noticing this cute action Aoba reached over and turned the computer off. He then placed one arm around Mikado and settled down himself, gently embracing his lover.

In a whisper he uttered:

"Good night, Mikado-Senpai"


	3. Their First Date

**Their First Date**

Mikado awoke in his apartment as he did any other day, but today there was difference; he looked around, his eyes still adjusting, to see blue hair pressed against his chest. "Oh yeah, Aoba stayed over" Mikado thought to himself. He looked at his boyfriend and smiled at how cute his sleeping face was. Aoba was still fast asleep with his arms wrapped around Mikado, it didn't seem like he was going to be waking up by himself anytime soon, so Mikado gently shook his shoulder. But Aoba just tightened his hug, let out a slight groan and stayed asleep. Mikado looked at the clock "Hmmm, even with our date today another half an hour in bed won't hurt" he thought aloud with a smile on his face. He placed his head back on the pillow which let out a small thud and put one arm around Aoba then just laid there enjoying the closeness the two shared. He was madly in love with his underclassman.

The previous night, Anri had seen the two boys kissing in Mikado's apartment and she ran; with Saika going crazy inside of her. She didn't know what to do or where to go. Mikado was her only friend in Ikebukuro now that Kida had left. So she turned to the only other person who she knew somewhat well; and knew about the enchanted katana that dwelled inside of her. Anri nervously waited in the elevator that led to the floor of Celty and Shinra's apartment. She hoped that she wouldn't be too much trouble just turning up on their door step unannounced and at this time of night. The more she thought about it the guiltier she began to feel. However, she needed to speak to someone about what she just saw… about her feelings, or the feelings that she should be having, if she could have a true emotional response.

The elevator doors opened with the ding of the bell and she stepped out and walked over to the door. Anri raised her finger up to the doorbell and hesitated slightly before pressing it. She heard crashing coming from inside before the door flung open.

"CELTY! You're hom-" Shinra was so excited about Celty's return that he didn't even consider that someone else could be on the other side of the door. He'd rushed to open it so quickly that he'd knocked over a table inside the apartment.

"Oh, Anri-chan? What are you doing here?"

Anri had been to Celty and Shinra's place quite a few times in the past, and both of them had helped her out particularly when it came to Saika.

Shinra looked the young girl up and down, quite clearly noticing something was wrong; she was still in her uniform at this time and was out of breath. He could hardly ignore that.

"Why don't you come in?" He broke the silence that Anri had left after his previous question. She looked up at Shinra who had a reassuring smile on his face as he stepped back ushering her into the apartment. Anri slowly walked in, still feeling that she was overstepping her bounds, yet continued to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

"Was it Celty that you were looking for? She should be back from this job soon" He exclaimed with excitement in his voice. Anri was almost certain she could see hearts in his eyes. Once again, she was surrounded by those in love. She didn't really understand that emotion. Harima Mika; her previous best friend had fallen madly in love to the point of stalking the guy and undergoing plastic surgery. That was something completely beyond her comprehension. Then there was Celty and Shinra… well, how could she describe that sort of relationship…? And now Mikado and Aoba… two guys… She couldn't get the memory of them kissing and touching each other out of her mind…

"Is there anything I can do to help? You're clearly troubled…" Shinra spoke as he brought Anri a drink from the kitchen.

"I-I don't know…"

Aoba finally opened his eyes to see Mikado looking at him with a smile.

"Good morning" Mikado said still smiling.

Aoba looked up directly into Mikado's blue eyes; "Good Morning" he said with a yawn as he leant up and lightly pressed his lips against his boyfriend's.

"Ready for our first date?" Mikado said as he got up from the futon.

"Can't wait!" Aoba replied barely controlling his glee "But I need to go home and change first" he said as looked down at the spare clothes Mikado had given him to wear.

"I can hardly go out looking like this." Both boys laughed as Aoba got up as well. He walked over to where his school uniform was drying and picked it up and began to get changed, again in the middle of the room in full view of Mikado.

It would still take some time for the black haired boy to get used to Aoba's bluntness when it came to this sort of thing, but it wasn't something that he disliked about his boyfriend. Unlike last time, Mikado couldn't help but look at Aoba, considering how far they had gotten the night before, this was nothing.

"Did you want anything to eat before you leave?" Mikado called out to Aoba as he went to the kitchen to make himself breakfast.

Aoba considered the option thinking that leaving immediately would be better so that they could go on their date as soon as possible… but missing out on Mikado's homemade food would be too huge of a loss.

"Yeah I will" he said as he took off the shorts that Mikado had lent him.

Mikado took another glance at his blue haired boyfriend; "He really is attractive" he thought to himself "I wonder why he's going out with me…?" there was some doubt in his mind about why. After all, Aoba was attractive and could talk well with girls, unlike Mikado. Aoba could pretty much have anyone he wanted… He began having all manner of thoughts about Aoba and began getting a bit nervous.

Aoba looked over towards the kitchen area where Mikado was and saw him staring off into space with a worried look on his face. "What's senpai thinking about…?" Aoba wondered. Before continuing to get changed he slowly walked over to Mikado who hadn't even noticed that he'd moved. Aoba went up on tip toes and kissed Mikado lightly on the lips, whilst looking gently into Mikado's blue eyes.

Mikado was awoken from his trance like state by the kiss and looked down into Aoba's eyes. The earnest and genuine look of love in his boyfriend's eyes blew away any doubt about Aoba leaving him for someone else. The kiss was similar to the one on top of the hill when the boys confessed which brought back the memory of what Aoba had told him. He could remember the pain his kouhai was in, thinking that he had an unrequited love for his senpai. That memory was enough proof of Aoba's love; a love that was true and pure, no matter what some would say about that kind of relationship.

"Senpai?" Aoba questioned as Mikado came back to his senses. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Mikado said with a smile. Aoba's concerned face was adorable; he couldn't help but smile at the sight.

Mikado prepared the two breakfast which Aoba ate with joy clearly shown on his face. After they'd finished Aoba took everything back into the kitchen area before going to the door to put his shoes on.

"I'll see you later, Mikado-senpai!" Aoba exclaimed with excitement

"Ah, one minute" Mikado said hurriedly as he walked towards Aoba. Mikado put his arms around him and hugged tightly.

"I really enjoyed last night; we should do it again soon" he said in calm voice

Aoba's face slowly went red as he hugged his boyfriend back. The two then parted as Aoba left to go home.

Celty finally returned to her home after another one of Izaya's jobs…

"I should really stop doing his jobs… but he pays well…" She thought to herself as she walked through the door. After an exhausting day she just wanted to relax. That was when she realised something was off. Normally she'd be jumped on by Shinra as soon as she got through the door. But he wasn't here today. Strange. She continued to walk through the hallway as she heard Shinra's voice, and another which she also recognised.

Celty walked into the living room to see Anri and Shinra talking together.

" _Anri? What are you doing here so late? Is everything alright?_ " She typed out on her PDA and showed it to the young girl sitting on the sofa, still in her uniform from that day.

"She appears to have some trouble with Ryuugamine-kun" Shinra explained for her.

" _Trouble? Is Mikado caught up in something again?_ "

"No… it's nothing like that…" Anri was still having trouble speaking. Not so much because of her own nervousness but more for the fact that she was hesitant to tell people who knew and liked Mikado about his relationship; since many would frown upon it. But she was here now. She'd have to tell them about it. And… well… if these two were in love then they could hardly judge Mikado and Aoba for their relationship. Besides, Shinra and Celty weren't those kinds of people…

"Ryuugamine-kun… has found someone he likes" She started

" _Ohh, so it's a love problem then?_ " Celty typed, she was less worried now. At first she'd assumed that it was another issue with the Dollars that she'd no doubt end up getting involved with.

"I see… I see…" Shinra said as he began to think about the situation.

"…but… the person he likes… is another guy…" Anri managed to say it.

There was brief moment of stunned silence as Celty and Shinra contemplated what Anri had just said.

" _Eh? Mikado swings that way?_ " Celty speedily typed showing her surprise as anyone else would through their speech.

"Really? Ryuugamine-kun? I never would have guessed." Shinra continued

"Yeah… I saw them kissing earlier… I didn't know what to do… I panicked and just ended up here…" She began to trail off.

"So, is it the fact that he's going out with someone of the same gender that bothers you?" Shinra enquired.

"I… I'm not sure… I mean, I wasn't expecting to see him doing those kinds of things with another boy…"

Celty had a feeling that she knew what was wrong…

" _Anri, answer me honestly_ " She typed out on her PDA

With a questioning tone the girl replied with: "Ok?"

" _Do you like Mikado?_ "

Anri's face blushed slightly when she thought about it. She'd always assumed that she couldn't feel any emotions let alone love after the incident with her family. That was the reason why she could have such a grip over Saika. She allowed the cursed blade to love people in her place. But maybe she did have some sort of a feeling for Mikado. She always enjoyed being in his company… Anri tried to think of anyone else that she had that feeling when she was around but there wasn't anyone that she could think of. Even Masaomi didn't give her this feeling… not anymore at least. This may not be what most people would consider true love to be, but this was going to be the closest that Anri could get to love.

"I think I do…" She let out after a relatively long period of internal debate.

" _Then you're probably jealous_ " Celty concluded

"Jealous?" Anri questioned.

"Hmm, I agree" Shinra added "Given the circumstances I doubt it can be anything else. It's a shame that you hadn't realised your feelings earlier… maybe you would have had a chance…"

"There's another problem too… Saika is going crazy… I think it wants to hurt Ryuugamine-kun and Kuronuma-kun."

"You mean… that Saika is jealous too?" Shinra asked.

Anri nodded in agreement.

" _You want Mikado to be happy, right?_ " Celty interrupted

Again, the girl nodded.

" _Then maybe you should try telling him that. Just tell him that you support him. If you do that, that is, to show that you've come to terms with his love, then maybe Saika will calm down_."

"And if it doesn't?"

" _Well… we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it_ "

Orihara Izaya was strolling along the streets of Ikebukuro as he often did when he got bored. He just so happened to pass by the leader of Dollars' apartment. Well, it may have just been coincidence, but with Izaya you can never quite tell whether it was planned or not. Either way, he was about to get a new piece of information that may become quite useful to him in the future; as he neared the stairway up to Mikado's apartment he saw a blue haired boy eagerly walk down the stairs and continue to walk away, all the while having a huge grin on his face and still slightly blushing.

"Heeeh, so the little shark stayed overnight at Ryuugamine-kun's place huh?"

An evil smirk appeared on the face of the information broker as he thought up ways he could use this piece of information.

"Ahh, young love… maybe I should _help_ them out a bit?"

Izaya laughed in that way he always did when he found something amusing, which by his standards was difficult, as he merrily made his way down the road.

"I really do love humans!"

Aoba returned to his apartment which was actually quite a distance from Mikado's, a fact that annoyed Aoba quite a lot…

"I wonder if we'll be able to live together at some point..." Aoba thought, and blushed because of it. It would mean so much to him if that could happen at some point in the future. Aoba hated humanity, ever since he was a child there was nothing about the human race that he thought was attractive or just plain good. This view may have been partly influenced by his run in with Orihara Izaya at a fairly young age, or possibly the issues he had with his older brother. No matter the cause, he had a pure disdain for humans, including himself. But that all changed when he met Ryuugamine Mikado. It was love at first sight for Aoba, he couldn't really describe why, but he just wanted to be with Mikado and spending the year with him just reinforced this feeling. At that time he never even considered that his upperclassman would reciprocate his feelings. From then on his view on humanity changed slightly, he started to appreciate certain human values and didn't hate everybody as much as he had done previously.

Aoba took of his uniform that he'd now been wearing since the day before and got into the shower, after he walked to his wardrobe and pulled out an outfit comprised of black trousers a dark blue shirt and a slightly lighter jacket. While not much different from his usual casual attire it was all brand new, still with the store tags on. Aoba had made sure to keep a new outfit ready for when he and Mikado went on their first date. As he was putting on the jacket he looked out of the window from his bedroom and noticed that it had started to snow.

"What a romantic setting for a first date" he said out loud as he smiled thinking about how the date would go.

At that point he realised that he'd rushed home before asking where the two should meet up, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Mikado.

Just as Mikado finished getting ready for the date his phone lit up with a text message. It was from Sonohara Anri. He unlocked his phone to look at the message:

[Are you free today? I need to speak to you, it's important]

Mikado became quite worried when he read that, he never liked serious conversations when he didn't know the context. He typed his reply:

{I'm busy, but we can meet if it's quick}

As his reply sent a text came in from Aoba asking where they should meet. Mikado replied with the hill where Aoba had confessed, since it was a significant place for them as well as a good 'half-way' point between the boys' houses. Thinking that he could kill two birds with one stone Mikado texted Anri back and told her to meet him at the same place, only half an hour earlier. That would give him plenty of time to deal with the issue that Anri had and then meet up with Aoba.

The snow was beginning to pile up to the point where it was beginning to make it difficult to walk. Sonohara Anri was waiting for Mikado to show up on top of the hill. The snow that was still falling was settling on shoulders as Mikado finally finished climbing the staircase to the top as he had done with Aoba not too long ago.

"Ah, Ryuugamine-kun" Anri let out as she saw him approach. The girl stood up from the bench that she was sitting on and tried to move towards the black haired boy. However the sight of Mikado caused Saika to stir slightly. Its voice calling out to cut was becoming louder the closer Mikado came to Anri. The girl was able suppress it though, it wouldn't be the first time that Saika had been at this stage. But if it got any worse…

Mikado had turned up later than he'd expected to, so he really needed to make this quick so that it could be dealt with before Aoba turned up. "What did you need to speak to me about?" The boy asked.

"Ah… ummm" Even though she had brought up the courage to try and speak to Mikado about his relationship she hadn't actually thought about how she was going to get on to the topic. She began to think of various ways of bringing it up but no words actually came out of her mouth. Then her trail of thought was cut off by an energetic voice.

"Senpai!" Aoba called out to Mikado as he came rushing up the stairs in excitement.

Anri saw Mikado's boyfriend approach and Saika nearly brought itself out to attack. The girl quickly exclaimed "Ryuugamine-kun… I'm… I'm really happy for you" and then ran off. This was the second time that she had run from this problem. But this time was different, this time it was for their safety.

"What was that about?" Aoba asked inquisitively.

"I'm not sure" Mikado said as he stared in the direction that Anri had run off in.

"So, are you ready to go?" Aoba asked with a huge grin on his face.

"Yup" Mikado replied with a smile and then bent down slightly to kiss Aoba due to which the latter blushed.

The couple walked down from the hill into the centre of Ikebukuro, almost forgetting the strange encounter they had just had with Anri.

Celty was waiting at the bottom of the hill to see the result of Anri's talk with Mikado. Anri had told her not to bother coming, but Celty decided to ignore that and followed behind her, she could hardly let her go on her own.

"I hope the two of them work everything out…" She thought to herself. The headless rider had a soft spot for the two Raira students. Neither of them had been surprised or screamed at the fact that she didn't have a head. It was people like them that made her feel somewhat normal in the world, even though her existence was anything but normal. Hence, when a problem came up involving them she couldn't just let it go like it was nothing.

Celty's train of thought was interrupted as Anri ran past her at quite a pace. "Well… that couldn't have gone down well…" Celty spun her motorcycle around and was about to follow after the distressed girl when a wave of negativity flowed over her. She didn't know whether this was a kind of feeling that humans got, or whether it was part of her Dullahan background to warn her of danger. But one thing was certain; she only ever got this feeling around one person; Orihara Izaya. The headless rider looked around the area to see where the information broker was. And there he was, standing on the roof of one of buildings, overlooking everyone, observing them just to satisfy his need to love humans. Knowing that he must have some sort of scheme planned she too went up to the roof of the building.

"Hey, Celty… I wasn't expecting to see you here." Izaya said as he gleefully walked across the edge of the roof with his arms outstretched for balance.

Celty had no patience for the man " _I'll be blunt with you, what have you got planned for them?_ "

"Them? Who could you be talking about?" He replied with that devilish grin he often had on his face.

" _You know who; Mikado, his boyfriend and Anri-chan"_

"Hehe, nothing nothing, I just made an innocent phone call to an acquaintance of theirs. That's all."

" _Nothing's innocent when it comes to you."_

"You really are being blunt" Izaya laughed to himself as he thought about what was going to happen later in the evening because of him.

" _If you hurt one of them-"_ Celty let out a spike of shadow and wrapped it around Izaya's neck, letting the point just graze the man's throat until a small droplet of blood dropped to the ground. " _-I won't hold back."_

"This is the second time you've threatened me like this you know." The smirk on his face had disappeared now, he knew that Celty was serious, even if he outwardly played it off as nothing but an idle threat.

Celty waited in a moment of silence before retracting her shadow. She couldn't trust what Izaya had planned, so she'd decided to follow Mikado and his boyfriend to make sure nothing would happen to them. Then the memory of Anri running past her came into her mind. "I need to make sure she's ok too… but I can't be in two places at once…" To solve that problem Celty sent Shinra a text asking him to go check on the girl at her apartment and make sure that everything was alright. Meanwhile Celty had spotted the two boys walking and laughing together as they got closer to the centre of Ikebukuro. If the headless rider could have smiled she would have; it was great to see Mikado laughing and having fun, especially after everything that had happened with the Yellow Scarves. Making sure that nothing happened to them, on what was clearly a date, she followed the couple. You could never be too cautious when Izaya was involved.

The two boys made their way through the centre of town towards the movie theatre where they planned to have their first date. "There's a lot of people around here…" Mikado thought to himself, he was still slightly self-conscious about being seen with Aoba in case anybody noticed that they were going out. This thought in itself hurt the black haired boy as he so desperately wanted to hold hands with Aoba as they walked, but the thought of people staring at them stopped him from taking any action. Mikado looked down at Aoba and noticed that he had gotten closer to him, with the blue haired boy's shoulder nearly rubbing against his arm. Aoba was clearly thinking the same thing. "Knowing Aoba though, he'd probably have no problem holding hands in public with me…" Mikado laughed a little as he thought about how confident and straight forward Aoba could be. His train of thought was interrupted as Aoba's hand brushed against Mikado's which in turn caused both boys to blush. This only caused their faces to turn even redder, with their cheeks already a rosy colour from the cold. Aoba quickly retracted his hand and looked away in embarrassment. "He's so cute…" Mikado thought, the urge to hold his hand increased but there was just no way that he could do that with so many people around.

The sunset that beautifully blanketed Ikebukuro shone through the gaps in buildings, giving an orange tint to the falling snowflakes. The fallen snow crumpled and crunched beneath the lovers' feet as they reached the entrance to the movie theatre. The older boy opened the door for the younger one, releasing a wave of heat which hit the two giving them a warm, welcoming feeling. As they walked in they brushed off the snow that had built up on their coats, and continued to walk into the lobby.

Even in here there was a mass of people, although that didn't really surprise either of the boys considering it was a Saturday evening. The two walked through the dimly lit lobby and took a look at the movie posters.

"Hmmm… anything in particular you want to see?" Mikado asked Aoba

Aoba glanced over the movie posters and eventually decided on a Japanese dub of a western action film. Aoba had always liked the way that the west did action films, particularly those with big budgets; he was a bit of a Hollywood fan, though nobody knew this.

"Is that alright with you, Senpai?"

"That's fine by me, as long as I'm with you it wouldn't matter" he smiled as he walked up to the front desk to get their tickets.

"I'm gonna go get a drink, did you want one?" Aoba called out

Mikado thought about it for a second but decided not to, it always made him need to use the toilet, and he hated getting up halfway through a film.

Aoba went over to the refreshment stand and bought the stereotypical completely oversized drink. The two boys re-joined each other and went into the screen together. Mikado had purposefully asked for the seats in the corner of the theatre so that if anyone they knew happened to be in the theatre then it would be harder for them to notice. They both sat down and got settled as the lights dimmed and the movie began.

Mikado tried to enjoy the film, but he was so nervous sitting next to Aoba, given how it was their first date. He turned to look at his boyfriend who was completely enthralled by the film. Seeing the reflection of the screen in Aoba's eyes and the look of joy on his face made Mikado blush and smile in one motion. "Is he ever not cute?" he thought to himself.

The movie progressed and as the film was beginning to reach its halfway point Mikado realised that being so nervous had made his mouth dry… he was now regretting turning down Aoba's offer of a drink. To make it worse, Aoba picked up his ridiculously large cup and was drinking from it. The blue haired boy placed it back down in the holder that was in between the two of them. "I'm sure he won't mind…" Mikado thought as he picked up the cup and drank from it. When he placed it back down Aoba was looking at him with a clearly noticeable blush. Mikado stopped to think about what would have caused him to do blush like that… Then it hit him. Like Aoba's, Mikado's face flushed red as he realised that he'd just had an indirect kiss with Aoba.

"If you'd wanted to kiss you should have just asked, Senpai…" Aoba whispered with a slight smile on his face, causing Mikado to blush even more.

The film continued and as it reached the beginning of the climax Mikado felt a small thud on his shoulder. He turned to look and saw that his boyfriend had lent his head against Mikado's shoulder. The lack of being close had finally broken Aoba and that was the best he could do whilst still be weary of people noticing them, however he figured that no one would actually notice them this far into the film. Mikado too thought the same thing, and rested his head on top of Aoba's. The two remained like that for a while before Aoba moved his hand closer to the black haired boys'. As their skin touched the warmth of Aoba's hand surprised Mikado. At this point, Mikado was at breaking point too and gently slid his hand over the top of Aoba's. Aoba looked up at Mikado without moving from their position with a "are you sure?" look on his face to which Mikado simply responded with a smile. The two then interlocked their fingers and remained that way for the rest of the film. The feeling of nervousness was completely overshadowed by that of joy within Mikado's mind now. It felt like his heart was going to burst from the love he had for Aoba. He was certain that this must have been the same for Aoba too.

As the ending scene was playing Mikado moved his head off of Aoba's, causing the latter to look up in worry. With his free hand Mikado touched Aoba's cheek and leaned in for a kiss. Mikado gave his boyfriend a tender kiss, at which point Aoba tightened his grip on Mikado's hand to show that he didn't ever want to let go of his boyfriend. Aoba resisted the urge to use his tongue considering the fact that he probably wouldn't be able stop there.

By the time the film had finished it was completely dark outside, yet Ikebukuro was still as busy as ever. The constant streams of people going back and forth filled the streets. The two boys left the movie theatre to be hit by the ice cold wind that swept its way through the buildings. Despite all of the people that were on the street there was a particular one that was instantly recognisable to Mikado. A person he had known since childhood… one who he hadn't seen in a long time. Kida Masaomi had returned to Ikebukuro.

"K-Kida-kun!?" Mikado let out in surprised excitement.

"Mikado…" The way that Kida replied wasn't what Mikado was expecting. He had assumed that he would have been jumped on and completely overwhelmed by Kida's personality as he had been many times in the past. But no… this time Kida maintained his distance; almost as if he was fearful of getting any closer.

Meanwhile Aoba looked on suspiciously, Mikado had told him everything about Kida and what had happened with the Yellow Scarves and his eventual leaving. As far as Aoba was concerned, anyone who would abandon their best friend like that was no true friend, and his sudden arrival could only mean trouble. There was also the fact that this could possible ruin their first date… Aoba couldn't stand the thought of that, considering how well it had gone so far.

"What are you doing here?" Aoba asked in a stern voice.

Kida simply glared at Aoba.

"Orihara Izaya called. He told me everything about you two. And you're… relationship" Anybody would have been able to hear the disgust in Kida's voice.

The words shot right through Mikado. He stood their frozen unable to say anything.

"Mikado… you're a homo!? How?! Why!? I never knew you were into that disgusting thing!"

The black haired boy tried to open his mouth to defend himself, but no words came out. He continued to just stand there without saying anything as Kida continued to spout abuse at the two. Aoba was furious and crushed at the same time, he couldn't believe that this was how their first date had ended up. He could tell that there was no way to stop the older boy from berating his boyfriend. So instead he tried to persuade Mikado to leave.

"Senpai-" Aoba started as he grabbed Mikado's sleeve and pulled it, ushering him to walk in the opposite direction. "-come on… let's go". He began to walk away from Kida but Mikado was still frozen. Aoba could tell that he wasn't going to budge so he'd have to try a different approach. By now the argument had drawn a lot of attention to the three of them; a crowd had gathered around them to see what was going on. Mikado could feel the stares of the crowd on him; all of them judging him for what he is. Tears began to form in his eyes. He so desperately wanted to get away, to stop the abuse being hurled at him from someone he cared dearly about. Aoba, too was now distressed. He could hear the whispers from the crowd and as he turned back around to look at his boyfriend he could see the tears appearing in his eyes which in turn caused him to do the same. Aoba now gripped Mikado's arm and forcefully dragged him away. He weaved through the crowd until Kida's shouting couldn't be heard anymore.

The two stopped and Aoba turned around to look at Mikado who just simply had a blank expression on his face. The younger boy wanted to do something to comfort his boyfriend, so he went to hug him hoping that would cheer him up and give him some support. However as Aoba went to wrap his arms around Mikado, the older one put his hand on the blue haired boy's shoulder.

"Would… would you leave me alone for tonight" Mikado let out

Aoba looked up in shock as tears began to roll down his face. The only thought going through his mind was that this was all over. Their relationship, even their friendship. Considering Mikado wasn't gay before this relationship it wouldn't be a stretch to say that this was a bit of a wake-up call… and all of this because of one person… Orihara Izaya. This would be the second time that the information broker had ruined Aoba's life. Aoba had managed to get past it last time without taking action against Izaya, although he still harboured a grudge against him… but this time… this time something had to be done. Aoba's trail of thought was interrupted by Mikado's hand sliding off of his shoulder has he began to walk away. The sight of Mikado walking away and being engulfed by the people of Ikebukuro caused the first year student break down in tears. Heartbroken, Aoba walked away too to return to his apartment.

Celty had overheard everything. She had been waiting for the young couple to leave the movie theatre, of course, she was hidden since she would have no doubt brought far too much attention to herself otherwise. "So this is what Izaya had planned. 'Innocent phone call' my ass. I knew he was up to something." The rage was building up inside of Celty, this time she was definitely going to make Izaya pay, but that would have to wait. There was something she had to do first.

Mikado walked back to his apartment and collapsed in tears as soon as he walked through the door. He didn't know what to do. His mind was a complete mess. Seeing Kida again was something he had so desperately wanted, yet this was the result of it. Then there was the abuse… Mikado had wanted to keep his relationship with Aoba a secret for exactly this reason… and now… Mikado shook his head to make himself think about something else. As Mikado walked into the main room of his apartment he saw the clothes that Aoba had borrowed the night before and he was instantly filled with regret. He knew that he must have hurt his boyfriend with the way he just left him. This whole incident was making him question his love for Aoba… did he really love him enough to go through with this frowned upon relationship…? Was it worth the grief…? Mikado didn't even want to think about it.

Just as he was about to flop down on the futon the doorbell rang. He got up and answered it, although he was in no mood to be talking with anyone. To his surprise the Headless Rider was standing on the other side of the door.

"Celty-san? What are you doing here?" Mikado said, his eyes still red from crying.

Celty didn't know where to begin, she'd forgotten that Mikado didn't know that she was aware of his relationship.

" _Can I come in?_ " she asked. Mikado reluctantly obliged.

" _Look… I heard what happened back there… I'm so sorry…_ " She typed out onto her PDA

The look of fear in Mikado's eyes was all too clear to see. He was expecting to get more abuse.

"So you want to start hating me too…?" Mikado sounded defeated, as if he was ready to give up on everything.

" _Of course not! I'm here for the opposite reason. I came here to tell you that everything will be fine._ "

"Fine? How can everything be fine? One of the people I care about the most just shattered my life before my eyes, and now I may have ruined any chance of staying with Aoba… how is this fine!?"

" _Is one persons' opinion that important? Does that have to dictate how you live your life? Even if he is close to you… y'know, if he really cared for you, he'd support you no matter what. Even if, deep down, it wasn't something that he agreed with."_

"…" Mikado just sat in silence as he contemplated what Celty was saying.

" _And did you not notice how happy you looked when you and your boyfriend were together? I've never seen you with a smile like that before. Think back over your relationship… you know that you love him. Surely this one small issue isn't enough to sway that feeling_ "

Mikado pictured the time he'd spent with Aoba and couldn't help but smile when that adorable face flashed into his mind.

" _And no matter what anyone tells you, any form of love is 'normal', don't let anyone tell you otherwise._ "

Mikado smiled innocently and honestly at the Dullahan. "Thank you, Celty"

If it were possible she would have smiled back at Mikado, but he had gotten that impression anyway. He really needed that confidence boost.

" _Now, don't you have somewhere to be?_ "

Celty offered to take Mikado over to Aoba's apartment, to which he graciously accepted. The completely black bike stopped outside of the apartment and Mikado stepped off. Celty dispersed the shadow helmet she had given him as he began to walk up to the door. Mikado took a quick glance backwards to which Celty took the hint and drove off. It'd be bad if Aoba saw Mikado and an urban legend together.

The black haired boy reached the front door and hesitantly pressed the doorbell. He hadn't mentally prepared himself for this, but it needed to be done. If it had been left any longer then the damage may be irreparable. Aoba opened the door slowly, tears still running down his cheeks. When he looked up and saw Mikado he stood there in disbelief. "This is it… he's going to break up with me" was the only thought running through his mind. Mikado took a step into Aoba's apartment without saying a word and continued to wrap his arms around Aoba. He just embraced the younger boy without saying anything. The hug was so tight that it became hard for Aoba to breathe, but he didn't care. This hug was all the support Aoba needed. Those thoughts he'd been having since Mikado left him earlier were blown away. The blue haired boy raised his arms to hug back and clung tightly to Mikado's jacket. After a while Mikado pulled back and Aoba looked up at him.

"Senpai…?"

With tears still falling down Aoba's cheeks Mikado raised his hand to the cheek and gently wiped away the tear with his thumb. The two smiled at each other as the lent in to kiss. Their soft lips touched each other.

"Aoba... I love you" Mikado told him, his face blushing and a gentle smile on his face.

"I love you too… let's stay together forever!" Aoba let out in his usual upbeat and energetic tone.

Their relationship was back on track; not even Orihara Izaya could do anything about it.


End file.
